Chapter 101
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Tang Clan
This isn’t a defeat.
As he had thought countless times, the conditions were absurd: a poison expert suppressing his poison and his killing moves to fight. Even though Tang Seo-jin had set those conditions himself, actually trying it proved they were far too unreasonable.
Moreover, this was a spar, not a life-or-death duel.
“...”
No matter how much he rationalized it with all sorts of thoughts, his rage wouldn’t subside. Tang Seo-jin glared at Yuri without withdrawing his surging killing intent.
“Ugh...”
Tang Seo-jin’s killing intent spread further. Among the crowd surrounding them, those with lower tiers began to turn pale, their faces gradually darkening.
“Young Master.”
With things turning out like this, even Tang Mu-seok had no choice but to intervene. He approached quietly and lowered his voice.
“If you release any more killing intent...”
“Grk.”
Tang Seo-jin ground his lower lip and withdrew his killing intent. This city had the White Tiger Sect. They weren’t a rival to the Tang Clan or the Killing Gate, but a mass slaughter here would stir trouble with the White Tiger Sect, and beyond that, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance.
“But... those guys to the Tang Clan...”
[Young Master.]
Tang Mu-seok sent a transmission and signaled with his eyes.
On the rooftop of the port management building. A red-haired woman with a greatsword on her back stood there. Tang Seo-jin’s expression stiffened at the sight.
[Savage Uproar?]
[Yes.]
He had heard rumors that she had been spotted during the cleanup of the Aldran Magic Exhibition riot, but why was Savage Uproar here?
[Did Mabeld assign her as an escort?]
[Since they came on their airship, it seems likely.]
Alnair Mabeld of Pride had shown them such favor that he attached the Infinite Supreme as an escort? Tang Seo-jin swallowed hard as he looked up at Savage Uproar on the rooftop.
Their eyes met. Savage Uproar smirked and waved her hand dismissively. It meant: don’t be stubborn and back off.
He had no choice but to retreat. If Tang Seo-jin won, they went to the Tang Clan together. If Yuri won, they didn’t go to the Tang Clan.
It was a trivial promise that could be crushed by force anytime. But he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t just because Savage Uproar was watching. He had declared it before hundreds; the Tang Clan’s face was at stake in that promise.
“...Impressive.”
Now, the task was how to wrap this up ‘well.’
“Young hero, you were far stronger than I imagined. To the point where I thought, haha, I’d die at this rate.”
He didn’t want his own pride trampled too much. So Tang Seo-jin praised Yuri’s martial prowess.
“I’m sorry for unconsciously releasing my killing intent. When my emotions run high, it just comes out on its own. Haha, that’s how much crisis you made me feel.”
This bastard.
“I’ve also received good instruction from you, young hero. Learning truly has no end. Someday... yes, someday. I hope we become close enough to call each other brothers.”
What the hell is he saying?
“Then... even if not right now, next time, definitely come to the Tang Clan...”
“Brother.”
Tang Seo-u stared at Tang Seo-jin with a twisted smile.
“What are you saying right now?”
“...”
“Have you forgotten the Clan Head’s words? He said to definitely bring back Aunt Tang Ha-ryeon and the other guests.”
“I’ll explain to the Clan Head.”
Tang Seo-jin forced a smile and glanced at Tang Seo-u.
“And the Clan Head didn’t say to drag them ‘by force’...”
“Aunt Tang Ha-ryeon?”
No need to listen to that bastard’s words to the end. Tang Seo-u whipped her head around to glare at Ha-ryeong.
“You heard that, right? It was the Clan Head himself who called for you, Aunt! One of the Infinite Supreme’s Three Vassals, the Dark King summoning you.”
Dark King Tang Yu-shin.
Ha-ryeong had never once called him ‘brother.’ The emotions in the gaze he directed at her were contempt and hatred fit only for filth. Though half-siblings, they had never thought of each other as such.
‘Lowly thing.’
She had heard those words since she was toddling around learning to walk. To Ha-ryeong, the Dark King’s chilling gaze was like a sticky nightmare clinging from the start of her memories.
“...”
Ha-ryeong clutched the robe in her arms tightly. It was Yuri’s robe. That man had shown a side different from what she had known until now. Because she said she didn’t want to go to the Tang Clan, he had made it so.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
Ha-ryeong laughed in broken bursts. It was self-mocking laughter. The man she had teased as pathetic had impressed her. And what had she done up to now? Yuri had done the sparring. Yuri had voiced the refusal.
“Niece Seo-u.”
Back in the Tang Clan, she had never treated Tang Seo-u with contempt. She had always called her much younger niece ‘miss,’ despite the scorn she received.
“Niece?”
Tang Seo-u’s smile twisted. It was a natural term, but she didn’t take it that way. Back in the Tang Clan, that bitch couldn’t even meet eyes or step on shadows.
To Tang Seo-u, the memories of stabbing needles into that body during poison and assassination training practice, stuffing bugs into her mouth, were as vivid as yesterday. Had twelve years made her forget? Tang Seo-u tilted her head slightly and replied.
“—Yes, Aunt.”
“Yes, niece, fuck off.”
Ha-ryeong replied with a blank face. —What? Tang Seo-u couldn’t process the words and her mouth half-opened.
“Aunt’s lost her mind.”
“As expected of Lady Ha-ryeong.”
Yuri applauded in admiration.
“W-Wait, Aunt Tan... g Ha-ryeon? What did you just say?”
“Fuck off, niece.”
“...”
“I’m not the aunt who used to run your errands anymore. Clan Head called or whatever, I’m not going to the Tang Clan. If your brother misses me that much, tell the Clan Head to come fetch me himself.”
“Are you sane?”
“Probably sane.”
Tang Seo-u glared at Ha-ryeong, her smiling lips trembling. The bet on the spar was Tang Seo-jin’s doing. It wasn’t her business.
“I’m the hidden youngest daughter of Poison King Tang Ji-hu, and a sister to Dark King Tang Yu-shin, about his child’s age. It’s not that I’ve kept quiet all this time for the Tang Clan’s honor, but it’s nothing to boast about either, so I don’t know why you, a Tang Clan member, are making a fuss. Anyway, since you call me ‘aunt,’ no matter how rotten your intentions, on the surface you acknowledge me as aunt, so you, the lower-generation fuckbait bitch, don’t block this aunt.”
Before Tang Seo-u could speak, Ha-ryeong declared.
Among the lengthy words, more than one or two stabbed at Tang Seo-u’s chest. Especially the last ‘fuckbait bitch’ shook her smile.
“Miss.”
Tang Mu-seok looked at Tang Seo-u with an uneasy face. To him, among the direct siblings, the one to guard against most carefully was not the brother but the younger sister, to the point even Tang Seo-jin himself watched her mood.
Black Charm Flower Killer Tang Seo-u. She was merely 5th tier, but possessed something special beyond her tier. If Tang Seo-u lost control of her temper and rampaged, even after killing her, at least thousands of ordinary western citizens would die.
Knowing that well, he couldn’t understand the Clan Head’s intent. Why send a bomb like Tang Seo-u here, who could explode anytime?
“Better to withdraw for now.”
“Got it.”
Tang Seo-u suppressed her emotions and replied. Kidnap them outside the city? They had the manpower. Here were branch expert Tang Mu-seok and seven first-class assassins.
But if it were just Yun-ryong and the bitch, maybe, but the Sword Dragon’s backing was hard to ignore. Rationally, leave the city first and contact the Tang Clan. As Tang Seo-jin said, no order to drag ‘by force.’
‘No way did they think she’d refuse.’
Like the Tang siblings, the Clan Head Dark King probably thought the same. A bitch chased out like trash twelve years ago to the Killing Guard Sect. If told to return, she’d wag her tail like a dog.
“If Aunt hates it that much, as her ‘niece,’ I can’t force her.”
Having decided to retreat, she didn’t want to face the bitch longer. Tang Seo-u slung her parasol over her shoulder, composed her expression, and smiled radiantly.
“We’re family, so we’ll meet at home someday. Right, Aunt?”
“Yeah, fuck off.”
Ha-ryeong emphasized the pronunciation in reply. The composed expression shook again. Ha-ryeong didn’t wait for the Tang Clan to withdraw and turned first.
“Won’t they follow us?”
“Maybe.”
Answering Estor’s question, she looked back. The hundreds who had surrounded the Tang Clan were slinking away.
The Tang Clan had said they’d withdraw, and provoking them now might invite misplaced venting. Maybe some clueless fool would poke the Tang Clan and get poisoned, but that wasn’t Yuri’s concern.
“What do you think, Lady Ha-ryeong?”
Yuri called out to Ha-ryeong’s back, walking slightly ahead. Still holding Yuri’s robe, Ha-ryeong paused briefly before parting her lips.
“I don’t know how you felt, Yuri, but Tang Seo-jin, unlike appearances, is one who considers propriety. Unless ordered to drag by force, he won’t act without weighing the aftermath.”
“And the sister?”
“Tang Seo-u, raised like a princess in the Tang Clan, is emotional and violent, but she too knows propriety. After all, they’re direct descendants, trained from childhood to control emotions.”
“For people like that, Tang Seo-jin’s fighting style seemed pretty emotional.”
“That’s because Tang Seo-jin hasn’t learned assassin martial arts. As a direct descendant, he has no need to become an assassin.”
But Ha-ryeong, the previous Clan Head’s youngest daughter, on the same generation as the current Clan Head, had learned assassin martial arts. And not even completely. Just that made it easy to imagine her treatment in the Tang Clan.
“Tang Seo-u is someone who might rampage on a whim, but she has Tang Seo-jin and branch expert Tang Mu-seok with her. No matter how spoiled a princess she is, she can’t ignore their opinions and run wild.”
“So, no pursuit?”
“Yes. They’ll probably wait for contact from the Tang Clan at a Killing Gate hideout.”
Killing Gate hideouts existed across the continent. Ha-ryeong, practically disowned by the Tang Clan and sent to the Killing Guard Sect, had never received assassin training there or visited their hideouts.
But she knew how Killing Gate assassins operated on commissions.
“If the Dark King orders them to drag us ‘by force,’ the Tang siblings will act. But I don’t think the Dark King will give such an order.”
“Why?”
“If it were worth dragging by force, they wouldn’t have sent just that much manpower. To that extent...”
Ha-ryeong’s words paused. She chewed her prickly tongue once, like it was thorny, and returned the robe still in her hands to Yuri.
“The Dark King doesn’t need me. He has no reason to, and I can’t guess any.”
A man who hadn’t sought her once in twelve years at the Killing Guard Sect. Even after two years since she crossed to the western continent on Heavenly Thunder’s commission, no letter from the Tang Clan.
“So I’m bewildered too. Who’d have thought they’d even come to greet me. Guess I’ve gotten pretty famous. All thanks to you, Yuri.”
Ha-ryeong turned to Yuri with her usual blank expression.
“Joining you was the right choice. Thanks to you, my fame rose, and I got an elixir and martial arts. In my life plan, I thought it’d take a few more years to catch the Tang Clan’s eye.”
“Ha-ryeong.”
Yuri draped the returned robe over himself and spoke.
“So, what should we call you?”
“...”
“I know you have many secrets. If not for this, I might have heard your real name much later. Or maybe never.”
“I don’t like that name.”
It was true her real name was Tang Ha-ryeon, but she hadn’t been called that often.
“Ha-ryeong is a name I made myself. And the first one I told you. Like how you introduced as ‘Yuri’ and you’ve been Yuri since, same for me. I’m not Tang Ha-ryeon, I’m Ha-ryeong. So, keep calling me Ha-ryeong like always.”
At that answer, Yuri unwittingly grinned.
“Who’d have thought Lady Ha-ryeong was the Poison King’s daughter.”
Estor muttered, looking around the eastern streets busily. Yuri suddenly realized something and looked at Estor.
“Hey. Do you know the ages of those Tang siblings we saw earlier?”
“From what I know, the Dark Soul Poison Dragon is 33, and the Black Charm Flower Killer is 29.”
“I see...”
Yuri nodded and quickened his pace, walking ahead of Ha-ryeong.
“What.”
Ha-ryeong frowned slightly at Yuri’s blatant stare and asked.
“The exact age of Lady Ha-ryeong, who hears ‘aunt’ from the 29-year-old Black Charm Flower Killer?”
“...”
“I figured you were older than me, but over 30? You don’t look it.”
“Yuri, keep that up and you might really get killed.”
“I’ve heard your real name; age is nothing. Since it’s out, just say your age straightforwardly.”
This was all because of that damned Tang Clan and that bitch Tang Seo-u to beat to death. That wicked girl throwing around ‘aunt’ and such, titles she never used back in the Tang Clan, fawning.
“...26.”
“Oh...”
That meant when they first met, Ha-ryeong was 24.
She was 5th tier then too. Reaching 5th tier at 24 with half-assed martial arts was immense talent, comparable to most possessors.
‘No wonder.’
If born normally in a martial clan, that talent would bloom fully and be cherished—but not for Ha-ryeong. Rather, it would have been a reason for abuse in the Tang Clan.
“Not asking about anything else besides age?”
Ha-ryeong stared at Yuri and asked.
About her mother.
Why she was chased from the Tang Clan.
And more. She rarely spoke of herself. Plenty to ask.
“Nope.”
Yuri shook his head.
“If you want to tell me, I’ll gratefully listen, but I don’t want to pry what you don’t.”
“For me, age was something I didn’t want to say either.”
“Different weight, different weight. Anyway, if you don’t want to now, no need. I’m a martial artist overflowing with consideration.”
“Ha.”
At the joking reply, Ha-ryeong unwittingly let out a laugh.
“Hm.”
At some point, Estor had bought a heap of skewer grilled meat from a street vendor and nodded.
“Might be pursuit, or other annoyances, so better leave the city now. Wanted to taste eastern delicacies here, but next time. I’m a knight with deep thoughts too.”
Estor grinned, handing skewers to Yuri and Ha-ryeong. Yuri agreed on leaving the city immediately. Not just Tang Clan pursuit, but the commotion in the street center.
Especially, just being the previous Clan Head Poison King’s hidden daughter invited complications.
“...”
Ha-ryeong blankly stared at the skewer in her hand.
Truthfully, the easiest was ignoring Ha-ryeong’s feelings and will. Her not wanting to go to the Tang Clan was personal anyway.
But Yuri didn’t. Estor voiced no complaints at the unilateral decision. Rather, he had been the first to bristle before Yuri stepped up.
“Yuri, Estor.”
Ha-ryeong felt her lips loosen from her usual blankness and continued.
“As you might expect, my mother was the Poison King’s concubine.”
She thought she should say this.
“And my mother is a possessor.”